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Vidhāna
''Vidhāna'' is a genre of texts dealing with the use of Vedic mantras outside of Vedic sacrifices to attain various ends. Texts Except for the Atharva Veda,: "There is no corresponding work to the ''Atharvaveda''. The ''Kauśiksūtra'', which deals with magical and other practices in addition to Śrauta and Gṛhya ceremonies can be regarded as representing the Vidhāna text proper for this Veda." there is a Vidhāna text for each Veda, namely the ''Ṛg Vidhāna'', the ''Yajur Vidhāna'', and the ''Sāma Vidhāna''. M. S. Bhat dates the composition of these texts to between 500 and 300 BCE, with the ''Ṛg Vidhāna'' being the oldest. In addition to these three texts, chapters dedicated to the ''Ṛg'', ''Sāma'', ''Yajur'', and ''Atharva Vidhāna'' also appear in the ''Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa'' (Khanda II, chapters 124–127) and the '' Agni Purāṇa'' (chapters 259–262); most of these are likely based on homonymous works that have not survived. The ''Ṛg Vidhāna' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Śaunaka
Shaunaka (, ) is the name applied to teachers, and to a Shakha of the Atharvaveda. It is especially the name of a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian, author of the , the , the , six Anukramaṇīs (indices) to the Rigveda, and the Vidhāna of the Rigveda. He is the teacher of Katyayana and Ashvalayana and is said to have combined the Bashkala and Shakala Shakhas of the Rigveda. In the Mahabarata, he is identified as the son of Ruru and Pramadvara, and in the Bhagavata Purana, he is identified as the grandson of Gritsamada and son of Sunaka, who belongs to the Bhrigu dynasty. Literature According to the Vishnu Purana, Shaunaka was the son of Gritsamada and invented the system of the four levels of human life. Sūta mahamuni narrated mythological stories to a group of sages headed by Shaunaka maha muni. According to Vishnumitra of Champa town, the commentator of 's commentary of , is attributed to Shaunaka who taught it to others in a satra-yajna (a 12-day very large scale collec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brāhmaṇa
The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , IAST: ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within each Veda, which explain and instruct on the performance of Vedic rituals (in which the related Samhitas are recited). In addition to explaining the symbolism and meaning of the Samhitas, Brahmana literature also expounds scientific knowledge of the Vedic Period, including observational astronomy and, particularly in relation to altar construction, geometry. Divergent in nature, some Brahmanas also contain mystical and philosophical material that constitutes Aranyakas and Upanishads. Each Veda has one or more of its own Brahmanas, and each Brahmana is generally associated with a particular Shakha or Vedic school. Less than twenty Brahmanas are currently extant, as most have been lost or destroyed. Dating of the final codification of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mantra
A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) believed by practitioners to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Feuerstein, Georg (2003), ''The Deeper Dimension of Yoga''. Shambala Publications, Boston, MA Some mantras have a syntactic structure and a literal meaning, while others do not. ꣽ, ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as an important mantra in various Indian religions. Specifically, it is an example of a seed syllable mantra ( bijamantra). It is believed to be the first sound in Hinduism and as the sonic essence of the absolute divine reality. Longer mantras are phrases with several syllables, names and words. These phrases may have spiritual interpretations such as a name of a deity, a longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Examples of lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vedic Sacrifice
In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature called Brahmanas, as well as Yajurveda. The tradition has evolved from offering oblations and libations into sacred fire to symbolic offerings in the presence of sacred fire (Agni). Yajna rituals-related texts have been called the ''Karma-kanda'' (ritual works) portion of the Vedic literature, in contrast to the ''Jnana-kanda'' (knowledge) portion found in the Vedic Upanishads. The proper completion of Yajna-like rituals was the focus of Mimansa school of Hindu philosophy. Yajna have continued to play a central role in a Hindu's rites of passage, such as weddings. Modern major Hindu temple ceremonies, Hindu community celebrations, or monastic initiations may also include Vedic Yajna rites, or alternatively be based on Agamic rituals. Etymology The word ''yajna'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atharva Veda
The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), "Veda and Upanishad," in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby), Routledge, , page 38 The text is the fourth Veda, and is a late addition to the Vedic scriptures of Hinduism.Laurie Patton (1994), ''Authority, Anxiety, and Canon: Essays in Vedic Interpretation,'' State University of New York Press, , page 57 The language of the Atharvaveda is different from Rigvedic Sanskrit, preserving pre-Vedic Indo-European archaisms. It is a collection of 730 Music of India#History, hymns with about 6,000 mantras, divided into 20 books.Maurice Bloomfield''The Atharvaveda'' Harvard University Press, pages 1-2 About a sixth of the Atharvaveda texts adapt verses from the Rigveda, and exce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veda
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest Hindu texts, scriptures of Hinduism. There are four Vedas: the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda. Each Veda has four subdivisions – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Brahmanas (commentaries on and explanation of rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices – Yajñas), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge).Gavin Flood (1996), ''An Introduction to Hinduism'', Cambridge University Press, , pp. 35–39A Bhattacharya (2006), ''Hindu Dharma: Introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vishnudharmottara Purana
The Vishnudharmottara Purana (or the ''Vishnudharmottara'') is a Hindu Sanskrit text in the '' Upapuranas'' genre. Like the ''Mahapuranas'', it is also encyclopedic covering a wide range of topics in the traditions of Hinduism. It is included in the list of eighteen Upapuranas given in the Brihaddharma Purana (1.25.23-26). History It is most celebrated for '' Chitrasutras'' constituting chapters 35–43 of the third ''khanda'' (book). This much cited part of the text dates from the Gupta period of Indian history. The ''Chitrasutra'' section of the ''Vishnudharmottara Purana'' has been discovered in manuscripts all over India and Nepal in Devanagari, Sharada, Bengali, and Newari scripts. The compilation that has survived into the modern age was likely complete by the 5th or 6th-century CE according to David Pingree. It is one of the oldest known complete Sanskrit treatises on painting arts in India. Content The ''Vishnudharmottara Purana'' is a Vaishnava-tradition text. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agni Purana
The ''Agni Purana'', (, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. The text is variously classified as a Purana related to Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Smartism, but also considered as a text that covers them all impartially without leaning towards a particular theology. The text exists in numerous versions, some very different from others. The published manuscripts are divided into 382 or 383 chapters, containing between 12,000 and 15,000 verses. The chapters of the text were likely composed in different centuries, with earliest version probably after the 7th-century,Thomas Green (2001). ''Martial Arts of the World: An Encyclopedia'', ABC-CLIO, , page 282 but before the 11th century because the early 11th-century Persian scholar Al-Biruni acknowledged its existence in his memoir on India. The youngest layer of the text in the ''Agni Purana'' may be from the 17th century. The ''Agni Purana'' is a medieval era encyclopedia that covers a diverse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Śloka
Shloka or śloka ( , from the root , Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'', Appendix II, p. 232 (Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927).) in a broader sense, according to Monier-Williams's dictionary, is "any verse or stanza; a proverb, saying"; but in particular it refers to the 32-syllable verse, derived from the Vedic ''anuṣṭubh'' metre, used in the ''Bhagavad Gita'' and many other works of classical Sanskrit literature. In its usual form it consists of four '' pādas'' or quarter-verses, of eight syllables each, or (according to an alternative analysis) of two half-verses of 16 syllables each. The metre is similar to the Vedic ''anuṣṭubh'' metre, but with stricter rules. The ''śloka'' is the basis for Indian epic poetry, and may be considered the Indian verse form ''par excellence'', occurring as it does far more frequently than any other metre in classical Sanskrit poetry. The ''śloka'' is the verse-form generally used in the ''Mahabharata'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triṣṭubh
''Trishtubh'' (, , IAST: ) is a Vedic metre of 44 syllables (four padas of eleven syllables each), or any hymn composed in this metre. It is the most prevalent metre of the Rigveda, accounting for roughly 40% of its verses. The Trishtubh pada contains a "break" or caesura 300px, An example of a caesura in modern western music notation A caesura (, . caesuras or caesurae; Latin for "cutting"), also written cæsura and cesura, is a metrical pause or break in a verse where one phrase ends and another phrase beg ..., after either four or five syllables, necessarily at a word-boundary and if possible at a syntactic break. Structure Different scholars have different methods of showing the structure of the line. Thus Hermann Oldenberg (1888) divided the line into three sections by placing one break at the caesura and another break four syllables before the end: : x x x x x, , x x , – ᴗ – x : x x x x, , x x x , – ᴗ – x E. Vernon Arnold (1905) divided it into 4 + ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
